Home Breadcrumb caret Investments Breadcrumb caret Market Insights A.M. Market numbers: Friday, July 31, 2009 North American markets appear set to extend the previous day’s gains on Friday ahead of a key reading on the overall output of the U.S. economy during the second quarter. Asian markets pushed higher on the strength of the U.S. market, while European indexes traded in a narrow range after surging ahead a day earlier […] By Staff | July 31, 2009 | Last updated on July 31, 2009 2 min read | North American markets | International markets | Bonds | Currency | Commodities | North American markets appear set to extend the previous day’s gains on Friday ahead of a key reading on the overall output of the U.S. economy during the second quarter. Asian markets pushed higher on the strength of the U.S. market, while European indexes traded in a narrow range after surging ahead a day earlier on strong earnings. Markets in Toronto and New York restarted a two-week rally on Thursday, pushing some major U.S. indexes to their highest closes since last fall. Canadian investors took heart from stronger-than-expected earnings reports from such corporate heavyweights as Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (TSX:CP), as well as a spike in comodity prices. While earnings reports drove Thursday’s gains, investors will be squarely focused on the U.S. quarterly gross domestic product report, which measures all the goods and services produced within the counry. The GDP report is likely to show the economy continued to shrink in the second quarter, but the pace of that decline slowed. Analysts expect GDP declined 1.5% during the second quarter, compared with a 5.5% annualized drop the previous quarter. Smaller spending cuts by businesses, increased government spending and improving trade probably helped the economy during the second quarter as it tries to rebound. However, consumers continued to cut back on their spending amid continued increases in unemployment and a still struggling housing market. Thursday’s trade saw sharp gains in Canadian markets, with Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index rebounding 221.39 points to 10,676.72 after two days of losses. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials were ahead 83.74 points to 9,154.46, well off an intraday surge of 112 points. Ahead of Friday’s market open, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 43, or 0.5%, to 9,133. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 4.00, or 0.4%, at 986.20, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 1.25, or 0.1%, to 1,608.00. The Canadian dollar opened at 92.68 cents US, up 0.45 of a cent from Thursday’s close. Light, sweet crude for September delivery was down 32 cents to US$66.62 a barrel by midday European time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 1.9%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index moved ahead 1.7%. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.03%, Germany’s DAX index declined 0.1%, and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.1%. (The Canadian Press) North American markets Back to Top Dow Jones 9,154.46 +83.74 or +0.92% +4.31% S&P 500 986.75 +11.60 or 1.19% +9.24% NASDAQ 1,984.30 +16.54 or +0.84% +25.83% TSX Composite 10,676.72 +221.39 or +2.12% +18.79% International markets Back to Top Open Change YTD Nikkei 10,356.83 +191.62 or +1.89%% +16.90% Hang Seng 20,573.33 +339.25 or +1.68% +42.99% SENSEX 15,670.31 +282.35 or +1.83% +62.43% FTSE 100 4,642.11 +10.50 or +0.23% +4.69% CAC 40 3,442.50 +7.01 or +0.20% +6.98% DAX 5,362.02 +1.36 or +0.03% +11.47% Bonds Back to Top Bonds $Current $Previous %Yield Cdn. 10-year bond 101.58 101.76 3.56 Cdn. 30-year bond 115.89 115.84 4.04 U.S. 10-year bond 96.00 95.59 3.61 U.S. 30-year bond 97.21 95.00 4.42 Currency Back to Top BoC Open Today Previous Canadian $ 0.9268 0.9222 US $ 1.0789 1.0844 Euro Spot Rate Today Previous Canadian $ 0.6549 0.6556 Euro 1.5269 1.5254 Commodities Back to Top Gold AM PM London Gold Fix ($US) $ 936.50 $932.50 Oil Open Change WTI Crude Future (US) $67.08 +$0.14 or +0.21% (07/31/09) Staff The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998. Save Stroke 1 Print Group 8 Share LI logo